Documents question accuracy of 'In Cold Blood'

The Wall Street Journal has released documents casting doubt on the accuracy of events portrayed in Truman Capote's book recounting the 1959 murders of the Clutter family in southwest Kansas.

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By Associated Press

Butler County Times Gazette

By Associated Press

Posted Feb. 11, 2013 at 1:00 PM

By Associated Press

Posted Feb. 11, 2013 at 1:00 PM

Lawrence, Kan.

The Wall Street Journal has released documents casting doubt on the accuracy of events portrayed in Truman Capote's book recounting the 1959 murders of the Clutter family in southwest Kansas.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports (http://bit.ly/154vPKB ) the documents — a Kansas Bureau of Investigation report — question the timeline of the investigation into the four murders in Holcomb.

Capote long contended his 1964 book "In Cold Blood" was "immaculately factual," but the documents dispute his contention that KBI detective Alvin Dewey immediately acted on a tip that led to the arrest of Perry Smith and Richard Hickock.

Instead, the documents suggest the agency waited five days after getting the tip before going to the Hickock farm, where he was last seen.